Do you favor HISD schedule changes? District offers online survey

Published 1:48 am, Tuesday, February 28, 2012

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Do you favor HISD schedule changes? District offers online survey

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Houston ISD is conducting an online survey at http://tinyurl.com/7989wlc through midnight April 13 to gather public reaction to a proposal to streamline school start and end times across the district and increase the average school day by 19 minutes. The district also promises community meetings and that principals will seek input at a campus level before the board considers the proposal in May.

The plan was shelved earlier over complaints that it would be disruptive to parents and youngsters, but now it’s being proposed as a way to help alleviate the district’s budget crisis as it grapples with a projected $34 million deficit in the next school year. According to HISD officials, lining up the schedules across the district’s 279 schools would save $1.2 million a year by making bus operations more efficient by allowing each driver to take on more routes.

Here’s how the plan is outlined in an HISD news release:

Under this plan, every HISD school would have an instructional day that is 7 ½ hours long. This represents a 19-minute increase for the average HISD school, or a total of seven full days of extra instruction time over the course of the year.

Currently, HISD schools have about 20 different start and end times. Under the option presented today, schools would operate on the following bell schedule:

• Approximately half of all elementary schools would operate from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Approximately half of all elementary schools would operate from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• All middle schools would operate from 7:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

• All high schools would operate from 8:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

The cost savings in this plan would come from a much more efficient school bus operation that would allow each bus to drive more routes than is currently possible.

Starting high school classes later in the day is supported by scientific research that shows teens learn better when they’re able to sleep later in the morning. The 19 HISD schools that currently operate for more than 7 ½ hours per day would be allowed to continue offering the same amount of instructional time, said Chief Operating Officer Leo Bobadilla.

In the coming weeks, HISD will be gathering community input on the streamlined bell schedule option. A detailed description of the plan and a survey will be posted to the district’s website, www.houstonisd.org. A series of community meetings will be held in locations throughout the district, and principals will be asked to meet with their communities to gather even more input. HISD administration plans to analyze all of this feedback before making a formal proposal for the Board of Education’s consideration by May 17.